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Picks is a monthly sampling of Japan's art scene, offering commentary by a variety of reviewers about exhibitions at museums and galleries in recent weeks, with an emphasis on contemporary art by young artists.
2 May 2014
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A Retrospective on Shimooka Renjo: 100 Years After His Death
4 March - 6 May 2014
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
(Tokyo)
Shimooka (1823-1914) was a painter of the Kano School before he switched to photography and became one of Japan's pioneers in the medium. This exhibition introduces some 280 works -- including his paintings as well as photos and other materials. The seminal role he played in Japanese photography has become more evident through recent research, and this show (which moves on to the Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art in June) does ample justice to both that and Shimooka's painterly side, which has generally been overlooked in the past.

Nakamura Kazumi
19 March - 19 May 2014
The National Art Center, Tokyo
(Tokyo)
This retrospective examines the career of contemporary painter Kazumi Nakamura (b. 1956), from the 1980s to the present. His works are abstract, yet compositionally they reference Nihonga and other East Asian painting traditions. Not only is each work superb in its own right, but their sheer quantity and size conspire to produce an overwhelming impression on the viewer.
Tentoumushi Project 05 NEW HOME
11 April - 11 May 2014
Kyoto Art Center
(Kyoto)
This is the fifth installment of a project organized by volunteer staff members at the Kyoto Art Center in collaboration with guest artists. This time the guests are Akira Higashi and Hiroki Kehara. It's a fascinating show that gives eloquent form to the staff's views on how to create a space that fosters new encounters and relationships.
Rei Hatori: Blue Beard

30 April - 11 May 2014

black bird white bird
(Kyoto)
A young artist who bears watching, Hatori paints monochrome works with a thick line and a simple touch. Since returning from studies in England she has intensified her exploration of the theme of "fairy tales." This solo Kyoto show first opened last November at the Commune gallery in Tokyo.
Welcome to 3D Printing World!

11 March - 1 June 2014
Printing Museum Tokyo
(Tokyo)
Everything you ever wanted to know about the 3D printer, touted by many as the dream device of our day. This exhibition examines the current state and future potential of 3D printing from four angles: technology, applications, lifestyle impact, and problems. The show does a good job of scrutinizing the issues that inevitably attend a new technology along with the novel products and ideas it offers.
Nakazaki Tohru x Aomori City Archives Exhibition: Tracing snow tracks

8 February - 16 March 2014
Aomori Contemporary Art Centre
(Aomori)
Situated at the northern tip of the main island of Honshu, Aomori is one of Japan's snowiest cities. This show displayed all manner of snow-related gear from the Aomori City Collection, with the first half focusing on the relationship between the city and skiing, and the second half on the making of the exhibition. Guest curator Nakazaki is an artist who fabricated an imaginary film studio for Aichi Triennale 2013, but here he dealt with actual history and made a convincing argument that skiing is indeed a cultural phenomenon.
Yaji-san and Kita-san, Incident-filled Journey

28 February - 30 March 2014
Sagawa Museum
(Shiga)
The Yaji and Kita of the title are the hapless heroes of Hizakurige (Shank's Mare), an Edo-era comic novel about misadventures along the Tokaido highway. Tokaido Meisho Hizakurige Gacho ("Famous Views of the Tokaido by Shank's Mare") is a Taisho-period (1912-26) series of 59 woodcuts inspired by that tale. Though it references Hiroshige's renowned 53 Stations of the Tokaido from nearly a century earlier, the newer series portrays travelers along the road through a more modern perspective and technique.
Yasu Suzuka: Sacred Places in Indonesia - Journey with a Pinhole Camera

5 March - 1 April 2014
Hasselblad Japan Gallery
(Tokyo)
Suzuka has produced artworks in a variety of media, ranging from woodcuts to solid objects. Here, however, he introduced images of Bali he captured with a pinhole camera, then digitally printed on traditional washi paper. His shots of the sun's rays subtly colored by the effects of halation hint at the essential possibilities of photographic expression.
The 17th Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art
8 February - 6 April 2014
Taro Okamoto Museum of Art
(Kanagawa)
With its call for submissions "created with a free viewpoint and conception" (the English site says it looks for "fabulous pieces that will startle the judges"), the Taro Okamoto Award (a.k.a. the TARO) is the only art competition in Japan these days that actively encourages radical experimentation. This year the Taro Okamoto Award went to Kyun-Chome, the Toshiko Okamoto Award to Saeborg, and the Special Award to Hazuki Komatsu and Japonica. Most of the works displayed at the awards exhibition were mixed-media installations, a pattern that we hope doesn't turn into a rut.
Aiko Motonaga: SOMEWHERE
13 March - 4 April 2014

ondo
(Osaka)
Both a gallery and a product label, ondo recently published a book of Motonaga's drawings. In this concurrent show of the same title she presented a world of ghosts, goblins, and fanciful creatures drawn with delicate lines and colors. Something about the "on/off" flux of her compositions and the deadpan expressions of her subjects opens up a space that draws the viewer into her world. This visitor wound up spending what seemed like an inordinate amount of time in front of each work.
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